Jewelnel Davis is Baccalaureate speaker

April 26, 2007

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LEWISBURG, Pa. — Jewelnel Davis, University Chaplain of Columbia University, will speak at Bucknell University's Inter-religious Baccalaureate Service Saturday, May 19, at 7:30 p.m. in the Weis Center at Bucknell.

The Baccalaureate Service, which brings a spiritual focus to the events of the University's Commencement weekend for the graduating class, includes the featured speaker, "calls to prayer" from different religious traditions, and music by the Rooke Chapel Choir and Rooke Chapel Ringers.

Participating in the service will be Susan Crawford, Bucknell Board of Trustees chair, President Brian C. Mitchell, Provost Mary A. DeCredico, and the Chaplains, as well as Lois Huffines, associate vice president for academic affairs, and Bucknell senior Jenna Camann.

Columbia University Chaplain

As University Chaplain at Columbia, Davis helps to sponsor a range of programs that encourage communication and understanding between diverse student groups and support the learning experience of students and others in the university community.

Her office provides oversight and support to more than 80 religious, spiritual, political and social justice student organizations as well as the 17 recognized campus ministries within the United Campus Ministries. The Office of the University Chaplain also oversees Community Impact, a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving disadvantaged people in the Harlem, Washington Heights and Morningside Heights communities.

Davis graduated from Brown University in 1979 with an A.B. in Religious Studies in 1979. She was awarded an M.Div. from Yale University and an M.S.W. from the University of Connecticut School of Social Work in 1983.

Honorary Doctorate

Before joining Columbia in 1996, she worked at Carleton College, where she is credited with revitalizing the Office of the Chaplain and advising the college president on human relations policy. She received an honorary doctorate in humane letters in 2005 from Carleton College, where she was recognized "for serving the college with ethical distinction, intellectual integrity and uncommon verve."

Davis' teaching and ministry have included positions at Colgate University, Yale and the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. She is a former president of the National Association of College and University Chaplains.

"We are pleased and honored that Chaplain Davis will be speaking at the Class of 2007 Baccalaureate Service," said Bucknell University Chaplain Ian Oliver. "She is an inspiring and inspirational speaker who has visited Bucknell and spoken at Rooke Chapel several times."

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